المعنى الاصطلاحي :

A deviant sect whose members followed `Amr ibn `Ubayd and Waasil ibn `Ataa. They emerged at the beginning of the second century of Hijrah and based their doctrine on five fundamental principles: Tawheed (Oneness of Allah), Justice, Promise of reward and threat of punishment, an intermediate position between two positions, and enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil.

الشرح المختصر :

The "Mu`tazilah" (Mu`tazilites) is an Islamic sect that appeared toward the end of the Umayyad era and flourished during the Abbasid era. They relied solely on the intellect in understanding the Islamic creed because of the influence that some imported philosophies had on them. This led to their deviation from the belief held by Ahl-us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa`ah. They call themselves "As-haab-ul-`Adl wat-Tawheed" (people of justice and monotheism), and the probable reason for calling them Mu`tazilah was that their leader Waasil ibn `Ataa withdrew from (i`tazala) the study circle of Al-Hasan al-Basri, after Waasil said that a person who commits a major sin is in a position that is intermediate between two positions (in other words, he is neither a believer nor a disbeliever), and that he will dwell eternally in Hell if he does not repent before death. They are also called "Qadariyyah" due to their agreement with those who denied "qadar" (divine decree), and attributed the actions of people to their own ability. Among their names is "Thanawiyyah" (Dualists) and "Majoosiyyah" (Magians). This is because they do not approve the idea that good is from Allah and evil is from people. This agrees with the doctrine held by the Dualistis and Magians, who hold that there exist two gods: one for good and one for evil. They were also named "Wa`eediyyah" (from the word "wa`eed" which means threat of punishment) due to their famous principle that Allah's promise of reward and threat of punishment is irreversible. Thus, according to them, a sinner must receive punishment inevitably, unless he repents before death. They are also named "Mu`attilah". This name was given to "Jahmiyyah" as well, and was then used for the "Mu`tazilah". They were named this because they agree with Jahmiyyah in negating the attributes of Allah. They both resort to Ta'weel (figurative interpretation) when there are texts from the Qur'an and Sunnah that do not agree with their doctrine. Their five principles: 1. Tawheed (Oneness of Allah): they intend by this principle to deny the attributes of Allah, arguing that affirming such attributes necessitates the multiplicity of eternal entities which would be polytheism in their opinion because affirming Allah's attributes may suggest that every attribute is a god. So, the only way to escape this is to deny these attributes and ascribe them to the essence of the Creator, thus saying that Allah is Knowledgeable by His essence, Omnipotent by His essence, etc. In that way, the meaning of Tawheed is achieved in their sight. 2. "`Adl" (Justice): they intend by this word everything related to the actions of Allah. They say that Allah's actions are always good and devoid of evil; thus, they negate people's evil actions from Allah Almighty in terms of predetermination and or creation because believing otherwise entails the attribution of evil actions to Allah Almighty while He is far exalted above that. 3. "Al-Wa`d wal-Wa`eed" (promise of reward and threat of punishment): They say that it is incumbent upon Allah to fulfill His promise and must reward the slave for the acts of obedience which He enjoined upon him. A slave then, has a right upon Allah in return for His promise to reward him if he observes the religious assignments which Allah has chosen to impose upon His slaves. On the other hand, the threat of punishment in their sight is that Allah must carry out His threat against the sinners from among the believers, if they die before repenting. They believe that Allah must do this since it is impossible for Him to fail in His promise or lie. 4. "Al-Manzilah bayn al-Manzilatayn" (a position between two positions): They mean by this that a Muslim sinner is neither a believer nor a disbeliever, but is judged as "faasiq" (impious/defiantly disobedient). He will be punished in Hell for eternity. His name and the ruling on him in this life differ, so he deserves to be placed in a position between two positions (belief and disbelief). 5. "Al-Amr bil-Ma`roof wan-Nahi `an al-Munkar" (enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil): They are considered a communal obligation according to the Mu`tazilites; if adequately carried out by some, the rest are no longer required to do them. However, there is disagreement between Ahl-us-Sunnah and the Mu`tazilah on the following: 1.The manner of changing evil. 2. They declared it obligatory to disobey the unfair ruler. 3. They allowed carrying weapons against those who oppose them, whether they are disbelievers or sinful Muslims.

التعريف اللغوي المختصر :

"Mu`tazilah": name of a sect derived from "i`tizaal", which means withdrawing (from) or separating (from). They were named as such because they claimed to have withdrawn from Ahl-us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa`ah and the Khawaarij, or because Al-Hasan al-Basri called them as such when Waasil ibn `Ataa left his study circle (i`tazalahu; i.e. he withdrew from his circle).